Device for applying garment hanger covers



Feb. 26, 1957 A. IVERSON I DEVICE FOR APPLYING GARMENT HANGER COVERS Filed Nov. 10, 1953 J0 IN VEN TOR. drae/z Z. e/5072, BY WM mw United States Patent Q DEVICE FOR APPLYWG GARMENT HANGER QGVERS Arden L. Iverson, Lincolnwood, 111., assignor to Para- Lux Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 10, 1953, Serial No. 391,300

12 filaims. (fll. 53-219) The present invention relates to a simple and rapidly operated device for the application of shaped protective paper covers to wire garment hangers of a well known sort. The improvement makes it possible for an unskilled operator to apply hanger covers in an unfailingly neat Way. This is accomplished by simply placing the hanger on the topmost sheet of a stack of the paper protectors or covers, the device positioning and holding the hanger securely in proper relation to the cover for the ensuing manipulations of folding and securing the latter. The time consumed in the operation is reduced to a fraction of that previously required. A very snug and attractive shielding unit for the hanger is obtained, and a generally improved one in that there is provided a protective sheath on the hanger which substantially increases its rigidity and resistance to collapse under load by snugly embracing and confining the hanger parts.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device of the foregoing description in the form of a fiat table to support a stack of shaped paper hanger covers, from which stack wire hangers are successively covered, the 0 table having improved provisions to register the stack, and to mechanically engage hangers successively deposited on the stack and thus hold the same against displacement during the cover applying operation. The hanger holding provisions include a pair of gauge elements engaged by a cross strut of the wire hanger. These elements are reversibly adjustable and are so constituted that upon reversal they will properly register hangers of different proportions, .from shank to strut thereof, thus enabling different styles to be accommodated by the single device. So registered, the hanger is further gripped at its central suspending shank to enable a top paper protective cover of the stack to be properly wrapped about the shank and arms diverging therefrom to the strut, and then secured.

Still more specifically, the invention provides a device for the foregoing purposes comprising a flat table supporting a stack of paper hanger blanks, and one or more upstanding, appropriately shaped abutments thereon against which the stack is registered. The table is also provided with an upstanding anchoring fork, preferably resilient in nature, in which the shank of a wire hanger is releasably received to restrain the hanger against sidewise movement. Further reversibly adjustable gauge elements are also provided in which an integral transverse strut of the hanger is registered in relation to the stack and restrainingly engaged.

Another specific object is to provide a device of the sort described in the preceding paragraph, in which the reversible gauge elements are constituted by pivoted arms having forked ends at different distances from their pivot points. One pair of forks are positioned and held to receive the strut of a garment hanger of one size, in one setting of the gauge elements, and in another, or reversed, position thereof the opposite pair receive a strut of a different size hanger. In any case, the twisted shank of 'the hanger is releasably held by a further restraining anchor on the table, so that the device is universal in its ability to handle hangers of different overall dimensions and to uniformly position the same properly for wrap-around application of a protective paper cover.

The foregoing statements are indicative in a general way of the nature of the invention. Other and more specific objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of the construction and operation of the device.

A single embodiment of the invention is presented herein for purpose of illustration. It will be appreciated that the invention may be incorporated in other modified forms coming equally within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the improved device, showing a supply of paper hanger covers and a wire garment hanger appropriately registered thereon by the gauge provisions of the 'device;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation, i. e., from the left hand side of Fig. l; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, fragmentary views in enlarged scale along lines corresponding to lines 3-3 and 44 of Fig. 1, further illustrating details of the cover and hanger gauging and holding provisions of the device.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the reference numeral 14) generally designates the garment cover applying device, while the reference numeral 11 is applied to a well known type of wire garment hanger to which paper protective covers 12 are applied with the aid of the device.

The hanger comprises a pair of downwardly and outwardly divergent supporting arms 13 connected at their upper ends by a twisted shank 14 and an intermediate upward bight 15. Shank 14 terminates in a curved suspending hook 16. The arms 11 are integrally connected at their lower ends by a transversely extending, horizontal strut 17. i

The paper cover or protector 12 comprises a main body portion 18 having generally triangular corner wings 19; these are defined by upwardly convergent outer side edges 26 and by connecting, downwardly convergent top edges 21 which meet at a central, downwardly convex bay 22.

When triangular wings 19 are wrapped around hanger arms 13, in snugly encasing relation thereto, the bay 22 accommodates hanger shank 14 and the wings are secured to the remainder of the cover, as its body portion 18, by adhesive, staples or the like, protecting garments suspended on the hanger from soilage, rust damage, etc.

It is highly desirable that the Wings 19 be secured in a direct, fixedly anchoring relation to hanger arms 13 and cross strut 17, so as to resist individual fiexure thereof under load and thereby to rigidity the hanger construction as a whole. An improvement in the hanger cover 12, per se, is the separate subject matter of my copending application, Serial No. 391,436, filed November 12, 1953.

Device 10 comprises a fiat, rectangular table 24 of sheet metal, plastic or like rigid material, supported, preferably in an inclined relation to the horizontal, by a rigid frame 25 having upstanding front and rear legs 26. A shaped transverse abutment 27 to register and support a stack of covers 12 is rigidly built onto the top surface of table 24, the rear surface 28 of this abutment being shaped in general conformity with that'of the edges of the stacked paper covers 12 which abut the same. End extension blocks 29 spaced from each end of the abutment, and constituting continuations thereof, are also made concave at their forward surfaces 30, for registering engagement with the adjacent rounded corners of .the hanger covers, as illustrated in Fig. 1. All this afiords a very stable support for the stack of covers, so that individual Wire hangers 11 successively placed on the topmost cover of the stack, and properly positioned in relation to table 24 by other means, to be described, are properly and uniformly positioned on the stack. i

The hangers are so positioned with regard to table 24 and its abutments 27, 29 by means including a pair of adjustable gauges, each generally designated 31. Gauge 31 comprises an upstanding gauge locking piece 32 of rectangular cross section received in a parallel sided space or recess 33 between abutment 27 and its adjacentextension block 29. Locking pieces 32 are vertically movable out of the recesses, in which they are ordinarily held from rotation, so as to free the same for rotative adjustment, and to this end a depending stem 34 is fixedly secured to each piece 32. The stem is guided in a collar 35 fixed to the lower surface of table 24 in alignment with an aperture 36 of the latter (Fig. 3). A coil spring 37 acts between an enlarged lower end 38 of stem 34 and the collar 35 to normally urge the piece 32 downwardly to non-rotative locked position in the recess 33, but the piece has an upper finger knob 39 by which it can be lifted in opposition to the force of the spring. Upon clearing recesses 33 the pieces may be adjusted 180 in either direction.

This adjustment is employed to selectively position the shorter and longer arms 40, 41 of a gauge element 42 on each piece 32, as called for by the particular size of hanger 11 in use. This gauge element is secured to the bottom of the post locking piece. The respective short and long arms 40, 41 terminate in hanger positioning forks 43 which are positioned as desired by manipulation of knobs 39.

Wire garment hangers 11 are fabricated in different sizes as regards the distance from their strut 17 to shank 14, as illustrated in solid and dotted lines in Fig. 1. In order to compensate for this difference in garment hanger size, it is simply necessary to rotatively adjust the gauges 42 whereby for the smaller size shown in solid lines in Fig. l, the longer gauge arms 41 extend forwardly of abutment 27. The lock pieces 32 are returned to recesses 33 and the arms rest on the stack of protectors under the force of spring 37. The cross strut 17 of the hanger is nested in the forks 43 of the two arms, thereby properly positioning the hanger in relation to the bottom margin of the stack of covers supported on table 24. The gauge is reversely positioned for larger hangers, the forks 43 of the shorter arms 40 receiving the cross struts as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and positioning each hanger of this size properly with relation to the paper hanger cover.

Shank 14 of the hanger is accommodated, in either adjustment of gauges 42, and is sustained against lateral shift by a further hanger and cover positioning unit on table 24, which is generally designated 46. It comprises a pair of upstanding curved cover abutment plates 47 which are spaced laterally from one another and are shaped to abut and gauge the downwardly convergent top edges 21 of the stack of hanger covers 12, i. e., immediately adjacent the central bay 22 in the covers, as illustrated in Fig. l. The stack is further registered by this means.

Hanger shank guides or gauges 48 formed of flexible strip metal also constitute part of unit 46, being fixedly associated with the unit as by screwing into table 24. These guides extend upwardly between the convergent inner surfaces of abutment plates 47 in the form of loops 49 which provide resilient depending shank engaging arms 50. The twisted shank 14 of hanger 11 is frictionally and slidably received between arms 50 in positioning the hanger after its cross strut 17 has been properly engaged with the two forked gauges 42. These overly the lower edge of the stack of covers 12 as shown in dotted and dot-dash lines in Fig. 2. p

When the hanger has been positioned by the above described means on the topmost cover of a stack on table 24,

its triangular wings 19 are successively folded about the arms 13 of the hanger, as shown in dot-dash line in Fig. 1, being thereupon secured to the remainder of the cover in an appropriate fashion, with which the present application is not concerned. So secured, the cover hanger is lifted out of the shank holding device 46 and disengaged from the gauges 42, exposing the next topmost hanger cover for a repetition of the operation.

The device is very simple and inexpensive of construction; it can be easily and quickly manipulated by unskilled personnel; it positions and holds both the hanger covers and hangers against relative movement so that a uniformly successful job of applying the hanger covers to the hangers is always performed. A great advantage is its adaptability, in regard to the gauges 42, for use in the handling of dilferent size hangers, and it is evident that this versatility can be expanded by further provisions for adjustment such as will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A device for applying protective paper covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table, a member on said table engageable by a margin of a stack of covers on the table to register said stack, and a gauge having arms of unequal length adapted to overhang said stack margin in two operative positions of the gauge, said gauge being adjustably movable relative to said table to select and position either arm thereof for registering engagement by a garment hanger.

2. A device for applying protective paper covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table, a member on said table engageable by a margin of a stack of covers on the table to register said stack, and a gauge provided with spring means biasing the same toward the stack to rest on the same, said gauge having arms of unequal length adapted to overhang said stack margin in two operative positions of the gauge, said gauge being adjustably movable relative to said table to select and position either arm thereof for registering engagement by a garment hanger.

3. A device for applying protective paper covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table, a member on said table engageable by a margin of a stack of covers on the table to register said stack, a gauge having arms of unequal length adapted to overhang said stack margin in two operative positions of the gauge, said gauge being adjustably movable relative to said table to select and position either arm thereof for registering engagement by a garment hanger, and means holding the selected arm in overhanging relation to said stack.

4. A device for applying protective paper covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table, a member on said table engageable by a margin of a stack of covers on the table to register said stack, a gauge having arms of unequal length adapted to overhang said stack margin in two operative positions of the gauge, said gauge being adjustably movable relative to said table to select and position either arm thereof for registering engagement by a garment hanger, means holding the selected arm in overhanging relation to said stack, and an upstanding guide on said table providing a slot for the sliding reception of a wire hanger shank of said hanger to further register the latter in relation to said table and said stack of covers thereon.

S. A device for applying protective paper covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table, a member on said table engageable by a margin of a stack of covers on the table to register said stack, a gauge provided with spring means biasing the same toward the stack to rest on the same, said gauge having arms of unequal length adapted to overhang said stack margin in two operative positions of the gauge, said gauge being adjustably movable relative to said table to select and position either arm thereof for registering engagement by a garment hanger, and an upstanding guide on said table providing a slot for the sliding reception of a wire hanger shank of said hanger to further register the latter in relation to said table and said stack of covers thereon.

6. A device for applying protective paper covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table, an upstanding gauge abutment on said table engageable by a stack of covers on the table to register said stack, said abutment having a pair of parallel sided upwardly opening recesses, and a rotatively adjustable gauge upwardly movable in and non-rotatively received in each of said recesses, each of said gauges having a pair of arms of unequal length selectively engageable with garment hangers of different size in accordance with the rotative adjustment of the gauge.

7. A device for applying protective paper covers to Wire garment hangers comprising a work table, an upstanding gauge abutment on said table engageable by a stack of covers on the table to register said stack, said abutment having a pair of parallel sided upwardly opening recesses, and a rotatively adjustable gauge upwardly movable in and non-rotatively received in each of said recesses, spring means biasing said gauges downwardly in the recesses, each of said gauges having a pair of arms of unequal length selectively engageable with garment hangers of difierent size in accordance with the rotative adjustment of the gauge.

8. A device for applying protective paper covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table, an up standing gauge abutment on said table engageable by a stack of covers on the table to register said stack, said abutment having a pair of parallel sided upwardly opening recesses, a rotatively adjustable gauge upwardly movable in and non-rotatively received in each of said recesses, each of said gauges having a pair of arms of unequal length selectively engageable with garment hangers of dilferent size in accordance with the rotative adjustment of the gauge, and an upstanding hanger guide on said table provided with a pair of resilient arms for the sliding reception of a shank of said hanger.

9. A device for applying protective covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table having abutment means thereon engageable by a stack of covers to position the same in vertically aligned register, and a pair of adjustable gauge devices on said table positionable to extend across said abutment means and over said stack, each of said devices comprising an element having arms of unequal length, said elements each being mounted on said table for swinging movement about an axis normal to said table and located unequidistant from the ends of its respective arms.

10. A device for applying protective covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table having abutment means thereon engageable by a stack of covers to position the same in vertically aligned register, and a pair of adjustable gauge devices on said table positionable to extend across said abutment means and over said stack, each of said devices comprising an element having arms of unequal length forked at their ends for registering reception of a cross bar of said hanger, said elements each being mounted on said table for swinging movement about an axis normal to said table and located unequidistant from the ends of its respective arms.

11. A device for applying protective covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table having abutment means thereon engageable by a stack of covers to position the same in vertically aligned register, and a pair of adjustable gauge devices on said table, each of said devices comprising an element having arms of unequal length forked at their ends for registering reception of a cross bar of said hanger, said elements each being mounted on said table for swinging movement about an axis normal to said table and located unequidistant from the ends of its respective arms, said first named abutment means being provided with recesses in which said gauge devices are removably received and held against rotation.

12. A device for applying protective covers to wire garment hangers comprising a work table having abutment means thereon engageable by a stack of covers to position the same in vertically aligned register, an upstanding fork device on said table providing a pair of upwardly extending, laterally spaced arms to receive the shank of a wire garment hanger, and a pair of adjustable gauge devices on said table, each of said devices comprising an element having arms of unequal length forked at their ends for registering reception of a cross bar of said hanger, said elements each being mounted on said table for swinging movement about an axis normal to said table and located unequidistant from the ends of its respective arms, said first named abutment means being provided with recesses in which said gauge devices are removably received and held against rotation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

